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Merrimack County Human Services
Merrimack County continues to be a leader in providing quality Human Services.
Juvenile service offers invaluable and effective services to children and families throughout
the county. Court diversion and Teen court are model programs in New Hampshire.
Juvenile and Family Services - Juvenile offenders and their families continued to be served
in our Juvenile Court Diversion Program. First time offenders were referred directly from
local police, thus avoiding court involvement and criminal records. Other youngsters were
ordered into the program by one of the five district courts in Merrimack County to perform community service or an educational component in keeping with restorative justice models. Firesetter Intervention classes were held in Concord and Franklin to address the issue of
juvenile fire misuse and enhance community fire safety. Our prevention efforts include presentations to middle school classes throughout the county on the juvenile laws, the
juvenile court system, and the youths’ responsibility to make lawful decisions. The
Challenge Course and the Smoker Education classes and drug and alcohol counseling
were offered to youth who have substance abuse issues. Anger management classes were
done on an individual basis.
The Teen Court Program which is a voluntary alternative to the criminal justice system for
first offenders who have committed a crime or a violation. It is a program in which youth participate in an actual court process administered by their peer group under adult
mentorship. We also use a mock court room for educational purposes in some of the
schools.
The goal of Teen Court is to intervene in early anti-social, delinquent, and criminal behavior. Teen Court strives to promote self-esteem, self-improvement, and to foster a positive attitude
towards the law and authority. Primary goals of Teen Court are to generate a respect for
the legal system and a realization by the youth of the consequences of their actions. Teen
Court offers an educational opportunity for all offenders and additionally for the teen
volunteers who may seek to become members of the court. To date, 6 court cases have
been heard with 110 adult and youth volunteers in the positions of judges, lawyers, bailiffs, etc. This program promotes accountability of the offender to his/her peer group.
Our Program Assistant/Community Service Coordinator has allowed us to maximize our
resources. She has contacted and set up additional community service sites and the
Prevention Program presentations in various areas of Merrimack County. We are moving
forward toward meeting the expanded requests for our Educational Programs for our youth
and their families and continue to collaborate with other agencies to combine resources and
share referrals. It is our hope that we will continue to expand on these and develop similar relationships in other towns within our county. We have worked to expand our visible
connection in the Towns’ community resource teams and other programs. Our efforts will
be to continue to maximize youth and family resources throughout Merrimack County.
With the help of the Program Assistants that we have been able to have the time and
resources needed to make this happen.
We have developed and are using several new educational programs at the request of our courts and/or community. One on Bullying which interacts with the 2004 Bullying law and new school policies that are mandated for every school.
Our Positive Decision Making program is utilized more in response to many criminal
mischief charges and other crimes that often involves a “lack of thinking through and
resisting peer pressure.” This program helps them identify the process used in making
decisions and to understand any laws in this area.
Drug and Alcohol Education Programs
These are separate presentations in the schools informing kids about drug and alcohol laws
and the effects of different drug and alcohol products. These are presented with the intent
to raise the kids’ awareness and give them working knowledge that would allow them to
make positive choices concerning the use of drugs or alcohol as well as related laws.
The length of our involvement with each juvenile and their family has increased as we focus on identifying problem areas and connecting them with resources. This may be done internally
through our educational components or externally through referral to appropriate sources
in the community to meet their individual needs. The Teen Court offers another form of
diversion and acts as accountability by peer judgment.
Our goal is to do all we can to empower the youth and their families to identify and change
the problem behavior and sustain that change over time. The result of the extra investment
in time and resources is realized in fewer youth entering the justice system a second time.
The reduction of costs furthers the judicial process and decreases the expenses to the
taxpayer. This form of community investment improves the quality of the juvenile’s family
and community life.
STATS – 2004
CONCORD – CHRIS AVERILL, PROGRAM DIRECTOR - ADJUDICATED
JUVENILES SERVED – 155
COMMUNITY SERVICE REFERRALS – 45 – (12 SITES AND A
TOTAL OF 3000 HOURS)
CHALLENGE COURSE – 120 kids
ANGER MANAGEMENT – 150
TOBACCO EDUCATION – 60
LADC EVALUATIONS - 21
DRUG & ALCOHOL COUNSELING - 65
Y.E.S. – (SHOPLIFTING) COURSE - 35
CONCORD – LISA CARLSON, PROGRAM MANAGER - PREADJUDICATED
JUVENILES SERVED – 148
JUVENILE FIRESETTER INTERVENTION – 12
Y.E.S. – (SHOPLIFTING) COURSE - 18
2000 Youths received the prevention presentation in the schools throughout Merrimack
County, which provides eye-opening information to youth and parents who may be
unaware of changes, or application in the Juvenile Laws. These presentations address
adolescent problem behaviors and consequences.
FRANKLIN – LYNN HASKELL, PROGRAM MANAGER
PRE-ADJUDICATED – 37
ADJUDICATED – 12
TOBACCO EDUCATION – 14
FIRE INTERVENTION - 6
TOTAL JUVENILES SEEN – 75
Through the Franklin Juvenile Diversion the same programs are offered to include: Anger Management, Community Service placement, Fire Safety, Y.E.S. Shoplifting program, and placement in approximately 15 community service sites.
Merrimack County Human Services Administration includes the medicaid billing
department, parental reimbursement, Grant administration and department management
and budget.
-The medicaid billing department efficiently processed nine million dollars in bills mandated
by Senate bill 409. Those bills represent the county’s share for services such as old age
assistance, aide to the permanently and totally disabled, nursing care, home and community
based services, provider payments and board and care of children.
-Parental reimbursement negotiates payment of court-ordered expenses with liable parents. A portion of the amount collected offsets the cost of this position. This program is responsible for meeting with parents, making all payment arrangements and attending court hearings.
-There are two major functions to Grants administration. The Incentive fund and our
budget grants. Each program separately awards approximately three hundred and fifty
thousand dollars a year to local agencies who provide services to children, the elderly and
families. The high quality of care that these programs provide would not be possible
without these grants.
Personnel decisions, budget appropriations, program development, staff training and office supervision are all part of the Human Services Administration.
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